Israel Joins Saudi Arabia as One of the Most Religiously Restrictive Countries in the World

Israel, which defines itself as a “Jewish state,” likes to boast that it is the “only democracy in the Middle East.”

(TMU) — While Israel likes to boast that it is the “only democracy in the Middle East,” a new study by the Pew Research Center has found that the country has restrictions on religious freedom on par with theocratic countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The report, published Monday by the
center, tracks the rise of religious restrictions globally and found that
Israel is among the top 20 most religiously restrictive states in the world,
with the fifth-highest level of “social hostilities related to religious
norms” and the “sixth-highest level of interreligious tension and
violence”—outstripping even the war-ravaged nation of Syria, which has been
engulfed in sectarian violence between religious and ethnic groups.

The report pointed to such common
incidents of religious bigotry in the settler-colonial state such as the
harassment of motorists who traverse through Haredi Orthodox neighborhoods
on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, as well as government figures who
regularly “defer in some way to religious authorities or doctrines on legal
issues.”

Out of the 20 nations listed, 19 of
them are in the Middle East and all, besides Lebanon, have an official state
religion or preferred or favored religion. Israel is the only country on the
list that does not favor Islam as its main religion, despite the fact that the
country has a Muslim community that comprises 17.6 percent of the population,
according to a Pew social survey from 2016.

The country’s ultra-orthodox Haredi Chief
Rabbinate exercises total control over the country’s marriage, divorce, burial
and Jewish conversion activities in the country, rendering non-Orthodox
weddings, divorces, funerals and conversions invalid in the eyes of secular
state authorities. Intermarriages conducted in the country are also not
recognized by the state.

Israel, which defines itself as a
“Jewish state,” has come under criticism for the de facto apartheid conditions
faced by its religious and ethnic minorities, especially its original
Palestinian Arab population who comprise about a fifth of the country’s
population and face regular discrimination and accusations of disloyalty.

Last year, the country parliamentary
body—or Knesset—passed the Nation-State Law that codifies the privileged status
of Jews, relegating all citizens belonging to other religious groups to
second-class status.

The people of Palestine are also
banned from about 40 percent of all Israeli communities by exclusionary
“Admissions Committees” that screen residents based on their perceived social
suitability.

Regardless of its dwindling support
from people across the globe, including non-Israeli Jews, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu doubled down on his religious bigotry earlier this year when he asserted that Israel is “the national state,
not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people.”

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About Wes Annac and Openhearted Rebellion

I'm a twenty-something writer & blogger with an interest in spirituality, love, awareness, activism, and other crazy stuff. I operate Openhearted Rebellion, a blog dedicated to sharing wisdom and encouraging a revolution that begins in the heart.
I've contributed to a few awesome websites that include Waking Times, Wake Up World, Golden Age of Gaia, and The Master Shift.
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